Pastors' Conference 2002 - June 9-10, 2002 - America's Center, St. Louis, Missouri Muslims angered by comments at gathering of Southern Baptists by Allen G. Breed Associated Press Writer.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A leading Islamic group demanded Tuesday that the Southern Baptist Convention condemn "bigoted" and "hate-filled" statements made by one of its pastors. During a pastors' conference Monday evening, the Rev. Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., told conventioneers that many of this country's problems can be blamed on religious pluralism.

Pluralists "would have us to believe that Islam is just as good as Christianity, but I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that Islam is not just as good as Christianity," Vines, a former SBC president, told several thousand delegates at the gathering in St. Louis.

"Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives -- and his last one was a 9-year-old girl. And I will tell you Allah is not Jehovah either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist that'll try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the comments were outrageous. "It's really unfortunate that a top leader in a mainstream Christian church ... would use such hate-filled and bigoted language in describing the faith of one-fifth of the world's population," Hooper said Tuesday. "This is the level of bigotry that requires a clear statement from the top leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention."

But William Merrell, a spokesman for the SBC executive committee, said the comments were made outside the actual meeting, and that it was not the SBC's place to comment. "The Southern Baptist Convention does not by habit renounce things as said in pastors' conferences," he said. However, he said he did not "want to give the sense that we are not sensitive or caring about this issue."

In introducing Vines at a separate speech Tuesday, outgoing SBC president James Merritt said Vines is "my hero ... he is a prince of preachers." [http://www.wtlv.com/news/2002-06-11/baptist_convention.asp]

 

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by Jim Salter, Associated Press Writer

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- About 200 gay-rights protesters tried to march inside the Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday, an effort thwarted when police locked down the convention center and blocked the entry. By groups of four, 38 protesters walked to a police line and asked to go inside. When police refused and protesters would not leave, they were arrested, placed in plastic handcuffs and put on a police bus.

About 50 officers in riot gear stood near the main doorway, but the protest was peaceful. Meanwhile, several dozen Baptists standing near the protest sang "Amazing Grace" and other hymns. Several thousand Baptists are gathered here for a two-day national convention that ends Wednesday.

Inside the America's Center convention facility, 12 people planted by the gay-rights group Soulforce stood up. "Stop killing us," one man shouted as police dragged him behind the curtains at America's Center. "Stop the spiritual violence." All 12 -- six men and six women -- were charged with felony ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor trespassing, police said. They were being held at police headquarters.

Those arrested outside were charged with failing to adhere to the directive of a police officer and trespassing, Rutt said. Soulforce had sought a meeting with Southern Baptist president James Merritt, who is pastor of the First Baptist Church in Snellville, Ga., over concerns that the nation's largest Protestant denomination's comments and policies promote hatred against homosexuals.

Several protesters held large pictures of people who either died as a result of anti-gay violence or committed suicide.

"I grew up Baptist," said Jeff Miner, pastor of the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis, which he said has a mostly gay membership. "It is a consistent and constant teaching that if you are gay, it is an abomination. You can imagine what that does to your sense of self-worth."

Ken Hester, a Baptist preacher from Pontotoc, Miss., watched the protest from a nearby sidewalk. "The homosexuality is a sin, the homosexual is somebody trapped in sin," he said. "Jesus wants to deliver these people from sin. There definitely is not any hatred against those who practice homosexual behavior."

Soulforce also protested at Southern Baptist conventions in 2000 and 2001, and has protested outside gatherings of other religious organizations, but this was the first time members tried to go inside. At the root of this year's protest is a legal opinion written by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, a Southern Baptist.

In February, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that awarded custody of three children to their lesbian mother rather than their heterosexual father. As part of the ruling, Moore wrote that homosexuality makes a person unfit to be a parent.

In the opinion, Moore noted that Alabama criminal laws prohibit sodomy, and said the state "carries the power of the sword ... to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution."

Moore's spokesman, Scott Barnett, said, "The chief justice was merely quoting Alabama law. He never said homosexuals are evil people. "These groups just clearly do not like the truth. It's a valid, legal opinion. Under the civil and criminal laws of the state of Alabama, it (homosexuality) is prohibited."

http://www.wtlv.com/news/2002-06-11/usw_baptistconvention.asp

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June 11, 2002 - An American Islamic group demanded today that the Southern Baptist Convention condemn "hate-filled and bigoted" remarks made by one of its pastors.

The Rev. Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., told conventioneers Monday in St. Louis that many of America's problems were due to religious pluralism.

Pluralists "would have us to believe that Islam is just as good as Christianity, but I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that Islam is not just as good as Christianity," Vines, a former SBC president, told thousands of delegates during a pastors' conference.

"Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives - and his last one was a nine-year-old girl. And I will tell you Allah is not Jehovah either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist that'll try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Tuesday: "It's really unfortunate that a top leader in a mainstream Christian church ... would use such hate-filled and bigoted language in describing the faith of one-fifth of the world's population. This is the level of bigotry that requires a clear statement from the top leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention."

William Merrell, a spokesman for the SBC executive committee, said that the comments were made outside the actual meeting and that it was not the SBC's place to comment.

"The Southern Baptist Convention does not by habit renounce things as said in pastors' conferences," he said, though he did not "want to give the sense that we are not sensitive or caring about this issue."

In introducing Vines at a separate speech today, outgoing SBC president James Merritt said Vines was his "hero ... a prince of preachers."

http://www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/6/11/175225